Promise Me
by Alex Freakin' Way
Summary: It's Maureen, Mark, Roger, Collins, and Benny's last day in Scarsdale. TwoShot.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **The Great Escape

**Characters: **Maureen Johnson, Mark Cohen, Roger Davis, Thomas Collins, and Benjamin Coffin the Third.

**Pairings:** Mentioned Mark/Alexi, Roger/April, Roger/Mimi, and Angel/Collins.

**Rating: **Teen cause it's Rent

**A/N: **This happened at two in the morning. It is nothing like I expected it would be. It may fail epicly. But I like it.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own. I... I...(can I resist?) I rent. (guess not...) Sorry. :(

Mark had his camera out, and was filming the notorious Maureen Johnson steal a shopping cart from a local grocery store. Collins was sitting behind the wheel of an old Volvo laughing his head off. Roger and Benny were having an intense conversation about which band was better: AC/DC or KISS. It was the groups last night in Scarsdale, New Jersey. The next morning they were all splitting up and going off to college or, in Roger's case, New York City to make it big.

It was so good to be together on their last day, and all of them knew they'd miss each other when they were gone. Collins yelled out that they had to hurry because a mysterious black cockroach was crawling towards the car. Maureen hurried to try and load the cart into the trunk of the idling car. She finally succeeded (probably ruining _something_) before they sped out of the parking lot. They were going to the park, to the place they had hung out together at for as long as they'd been friends. Collins was driving pretty fast and a little spaz like, and when they finally stopped the car Maureen cheered. Roger and Benny jumped out, and started kissing the ground yelling **"Land!"** at the top of their lungs. Collins and Maureen started throwing dirt on them, and they the boys returned their attack. Soon, all five kids were laughing so hard they were extracting glares from the local families. Sure, most of them were heading home anyways seeing as it was getting dark, but rowdy teenagers were never a good thing.

The friends couldn't help being nearly hysterical with laughing. For the first time in their lives, they felt fully** alive.** They were **free at last** to do whatever came to their minds. They were adults in body and kids in spirit. The world was theirs for the taking! After they finally calmed down they walked arm in arm to their meeting place. Sitting around in a circle, they started their good bye ceremony. They had been planning this since the beginning of senior year, and it felt like deja vu to actually be going through with it.

**"From now on, forget your past. We're escaping from this horrible town. We won't listen to a word anyone says from here on out. At least, not anyone from this town. No one knows us anyways, not like we know each other. Even though we're all going to be apart, remember that we're family. But we're free, so you're free to find more family. It's just, we were here first so you have to love us more. Now our lives are beginning. We're going to be friends forever of course, so we'll have plenty of time to talk about this kind of thing. As for now, I want us all to say where you want to be in ten years, right before we become middle age. You all know the rules."**

Collins, always the philosopher, the thinker, made his speech. He then pulled out the pieces of paper they had all handed him at the beginning of the evening, and placed them in his ever-present beanie. He shook it, and pulled out the first card. It read "Benny C." Benny stood to make his speech.

**"I want to find true love, and have a family. Hell, maybe I'll even build a charity for the homeless people or something, because I'm going to be filthy stinking rich!"**

He blew kisses to an invisible crowd, before sitting down and pulling out the next slip. Everyone held their breaths as he passed it around to show everyone. Maureen stood as she read her familiar signature on the simple white strip of paper. She twirled around a bit, before standing still and waving her arms to draw attention to her, even though she already had everyone's.

**"I'm going to get famous, and it's going to be for something amazing. I'll protest anything that's worth protesting, and then some stuff in between. I'll be a performer and I'll have millions of followers! It will be a Maureen cult! Then, eventually I may go into politics and take over the world."**

She took a bow, and reached into the sacred beanie, pulling out a slightly stained piece of paper with a tear in it. Mark knew whose this was before it was read aloud. Roger nodded, and jumped up. He'd been waiting for his turn.

**"I'm going to be in a band. A good band, not like the crappy one I'm in now. I'm going to become a rock star sex God. I'm going to have groupies throwing themselves at me left and right, but I'll have found my trust love by then. Of course, I'm going to stay faithful. I'm going to get famous and rich, and by the time I die I'm going to have a legacy. I'll never be forgotten."**

He sat down, and pulled out Collins's signed paper. Collins had never been one for theatrics, and stood simply until everyone stopped talking about Roger's goal.

**"I wanna be a college professor. Someone who makes a difference, and makes people think. I want to be someone that people will respect, even though I'm black. As for finding my true love, I'm not so sure I believe in that kind of thing. Sure, it's great to dream but I'll most likely never fall in love. I wanna change the world, and help the Earth be a better place," **here his face broke into a grin. **"And I wanna drink as much booze as I can while doing it!"**

He sat down to great applause, and he smiled softly at the praise he had gotten. The last piece of paper was Mark's, who had been filming the whole thing. He looked up at the moon (half full, odd it seems like it should be full) and stood slowly.

**"I don't really know where I want to be in ten years. I just want to be known. Like, the real me. The way you guys know me. I want to write and film movies that capture what the everyday person sees, or hears, or feels. Also, I don't want to ever be alone. I don't know about finding my true love or having tons of people around, but I do want someone who I can open up to. I just always want someone to lean on when times get tough you know?"**

He smiled, feeling like an idiot. Collins had an idea, after hearing Mark's words. He pulled out a small pocket knife and made a cut on each of his palms so there was a thin line of blood. He passed it along, and everyone did the same thing. They were confused at first, but understood when Collins had everyone join hands.

**"Lets promise we'll all accomplish ours dreams, or at least to the best of our abilities. Let's promise we'll always be a family, no matter what. Us five, we're all we've had through our whole adolescence. We can't let that go just because we're becoming adults. Do you all promise to be there for each other at all times?"**

As blood flowed between the make-shift family, everyone promised.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **This chapters sad. You don't have to read it. The first chapter can just be a one shot if you don't want to read the end. Heh. But, if you do, enjoy. **Many Many Character Deaths.**

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Ten years later, to the day, Mark Cohen stands in a graveyard. Around him are seven graves, close to each other as if they were family. In a way, they were. Mark pushed his glasses up, as he looked around him. It shouldn't be this way. He should be meeting them in the Life Cafe, the loft, hell even back in Scarsdale. Not in this rundown cemetery. He looked at the sky, as tears began to fall down his face. He wasn't one to cry. Now, it seemed like he had no choice. Slowly, he began his rounds.

His first stop was Benjamin Coffin the Third. The man had become an ass, up until the last two years. He had married into money after completing college at Brown. Turned on by the power, he'd divorced the woman and took as much of her money as he could. He married again, this time someone richer. He never did get around to starting that charity, although he had started talking about it again a short time before he died. He died too young, they all had. Ben's had been the only unpredicted death. Just goes to show, you shouldn't walk around New York in a suit after sunset, at least not in the area Benny had been. He'd had two kids, a seemingly perfect family. He must have remembered his friends, although he hadn't stuck around long after the funerals. His kids were named Thomas Collin and Roger David. The wife was pregnant with their third kid, a girl if he remember right. Mark didn't even know if the kid had been born, he'd never talked to his wife. He moved on.

Maureen Johnson was the next one on his sad tour. She had been his everything for awhile. She'd ended up dropping out of college, and moving in with Roger shortly after high school. She'd become a performer, true to her word, and never gave up a fight she believed in. Mark had adored her completely, and they had been together for awhile once he finally rejoined his friends, his _family._ Then she had left him for Joanne, left _her_ for Jordan, left him for Anthony... somewhere along the way she picked up the same disease it seemed the rest of his friends had. Why was he the only one that didn't get it? He couldn't answer that. She hadn't survived long after it turned from HIV to AIDs. After the funeral he'd never talked to Joanne again. He hoped she was doing well. He missed her sometimes, not nearly as much as he missed Mo. He stifled a sob as he moved on to his final friend, his best friend, the one he missed the most.

Roger Davis had left his legacy. Almost everyone Mark ran into these days had a Well Hungarians poster on their wall or carried around in a knapsack. Roger was a living legend in Alphabet City. He'd never gotten famous, never gotten rich. He'd become addicted to a drug that left deadly consequences, and lost a love to it. He'd gone into depression, given up music, only to fall back in love with his tiny dancer. She had given him something to live for, and he turned back to music. She died, and so did he, finally. He couldn't stand losing another love. He wished he could say AIDs killed Roger, as horrible as that is to say, but in the end Roger killed Roger. Mark finally broke down and sobbed outright as he remembered the day he walked in to find the blood spattered wall and the note from his former best friend. _**'bury me between them Mark.'**_and he had. Roger was between his two loves, hopefully at peace.

The next friend he mourned was Thomas Collins. The man had been an inspiration to him since the day they'd met. He always had that higher knowledge, had always been the smart one of the group. After they parted, he'd gone to a variety of different colleges and ended up in New York in a loft. Soon, he had his friends join him. He started traveling, became a professor like he'd wanted to be. Then came the fateful night where he'd contracted HIV. In the end, he'd deal with it for six years before it killed him. If there was just one thing Collins was, he was a survivor. He was buried next to Angel, his guardian angel, his one true love which he never thought he'd find. He'd found her alright, but she'd been ripped away from him too early. Mark could only hope they were together again. Collins had lived up to his promise. He'd changed the world, or at least a small part of it. He'd changed Mark at least.

Then there was Mark. Mark had dropped out of Brown, moved to New York, and started filming. He wanted to change the world with his films. The only finished film he would ever make was still in his closet. He had watched his friends die all around him, until it was that he was alone. Mark had never wanted to be alone, and now that he was, it was terribly ironic. At least to him. He had sold out, working at a sleazy show called Buzzline. He hated it, hated himself, and fucked the executive of the show every other night. Just to say he could. Now that he was at that ten year mark, and now that he was alone, he felt it was okay to just quit. What was the point of life, when you had to go through it alone? He wanted his family back. All he had to do was pull the trigger. holding the already loaded gun that he had brought to his head, he squeezed his eyes shut behind his glasses. He wiped away his tears, and let out one last sob. then **pop.**


End file.
